Thursday, December 8, 2016

Your life should be marked by discipline and morality, wherever you live. Lead your life in consonance with the command of your conscience. Your actions should remain the same, whether observed or unobserved, noticed or unnoticed. Though it is hard to restrain your mind, it can be diverted. When the mind steeped in the secular world is diverted toward Divinity, it gains in moral strength. The mind steeped in the worldly matters makes you a prisoner of the world, whereas a mind steeped in God liberates you. Your heart is the lock and your mind is the key. When you turn the key to the left, it locks. But if you turn it right, it unlocks. It is the turning of the key that makes the difference. Hence your mind is the cause for your liberation and bondage. What then is liberation (moksha)? It is not an air-conditioned mansion, but a state devoid of delusion (moha).

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Culture is universal in its scope and significance. We should not claim and contend that Indian culture is superior to all the other cultures of the world. Instead, we should have firm faith in the injunctions like: a) “All are one. Be alike to everyone.” b) “Together we shall live. Together we shall move. Together we shall grow in splendour. Together we shall live in amity and harmony, without conflict and skirmish.” We should foster the noble sentiments expressed in vedic statements of this kind. Unfortunately, the educational institutions of today do not nourish these noble sentiments in students. They are purely academically oriented and disregard the finer values of life. Secular learning should be coupled with spirituality. It is only such a harmonious blend of the secular and the spiritual that would lend beauty and radiance to life. We should not learn merely to fill our bellies but also to fill our hearts with bliss. The food eaten fills only the stomach but does not fill the mind, but spiritual food fills the mind and gives eternal Bliss.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

To develop kshama (forbearance), you must practice four kinds of purity – 1. Dravya Soucham (purity of materials); 2. Manasika Soucham (purity of mind); 3. Vak Soucham (purity in speech); 4. Kriya Soucham (purity in action or purity of body). Purity of materials covers all things used by a person, from clothes, food and cooking utensils to houses, and all the varied things used by a person. Everything that is in daily use should be completely pure. Purity of the mind calls for total elimination of attachments and aversions from the mind. Purity in speech implies avoidance of falsehood, and avoiding abusive language, slanderous gossip and speech that causes pain to others. A vile tongue fouls the mind and dehumanises man. The body has to be purified by performing Achamana with water (this ritual involves uttering the names of the Lord thrice and drinking three spoonfuls of water from the palm).

Culture lies in seeing unity in diversity, with a deep-seated faith in the unity of life. Nourish faith in the feeling of the caste of humanity and the culture of love. Here love does not refer to the bodily affection that marks the relationship between a wife and husband, between children and parents, or between friends. The son, though he loved his mother with all his heart, flings her body onto the burning pyre and consigns her to flames without any mercy after her death. How can such love be called true Love? All such relationships can at best be termed ‘attachment’! Attachments, like passing clouds that sail away, come in the middle and pass off in the middle. But Love existed even before birth and will last after death. There is no love between husband and wife before their wedding or between the mother and the child before its birth. Only Divine Love exists before birth and lasts after death.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Amongst the qualities that are needed to realise your Divinity, the foremost is ‘Kshama’, forbearance or forgiveness. It is essential for every human being. It is supreme amongst virtues. Forbearance is truth, righteousness, compassion and nonviolence; Kshama comprehends every other quality. Purity of mind must be practiced to acquire Kshama. Purity of mind requires total elimination of attachments and aversions from the mind. Hatred and envy should have no place. Today people cannot bear to see others happy or prosperous; this is the sign of a polluted mind. To be truly human, you must have a pure and unsullied mind. You must cultivate large-heartedness to return good for evil and not to cause pain to anyone in any circumstance. This is the mark of a pure mind. Recognise that the same Divinity - the same pure Spirit that dwells in you and the Power that animates you - is present equally in every human being.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

It is the foremost duty of everyone to transform every activity of their life into one of strength and beauty. Unfortunately, the education system of today fails to nourish the qualities of wholesomeness, unity and love, which are the hallmarks of true education. All of you should realise that your life span is fast melting away like ice, whether you care to improve yourselves or not. Many people feel that the acquisition of food, clothing, shelter, wealth, conveniences and comforts constitute the very purpose of life. Life remains a tragedy as long as people labour under this delusion. Many are blind to the goal of life, some do not even feel the pain of being ignorant about this. Only one in a million strives to realise it. This striving is the stepping stone for the realisation of the purpose of life. The day one realises the purpose of life, they undergo a total transformation, from agony (vedana) to freedom from pain (nirvedana).

Friday, December 2, 2016

A person is judged by actions. Good actions reveal a good person and bad actions reveal a wicked person. Your qualities and actions are interdependent as actions reveal your inner qualities and your inner qualities drive your actions. Strive to reform yourself by developing good qualities. Merely listening to spiritual discourses or living in sacred places or in sacred company is of no use, unless an effort is made to practice a few of the noble teachings. Qualities like forbearance (kshama), compassion, truth, love and empathy are not restricted to any nation, race or faith. These are spiritual qualities and are essential for people everywhere, at all times. Propagation of Righteousness (Dharma) does not mean spreading knowledge about something that is unknown. Knowledge of Dharma is acquired only to promote its practice and only those who practice righteousness are qualified to propagate it. By practicing in daily living alone, you learn its true nature and realise its full value.